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Medicine vocabulary · Patient Communication

Interpreter

Meaning in medicine, with examples

/ɪnˈtɜːrprɪtər/nounCommon term

In medicine, interpreter means: A trained person who translates spoken language, or sign language, between a patient and health staff during a consultation.

In Turkish: tercüman, çevirmen

How it is used

Hospitals use professional interpreters in person, by phone or by video. Guidelines advise against using family members, especially children, for important conversations such as consent or bad news. Doctors speak directly to the patient, not to the interpreter.

Example sentences

  1. Mr Yilmaz speaks very little English, so I've booked a Turkish interpreter for 10 o'clock.

  2. We used a telephone interpreter to take the history.

Common collocations

  • professional interpreter
  • book an interpreter
  • telephone interpreter
  • through an interpreter
  • sign language interpreter
  • informed consentA patient's agreement to a treatment or procedure, given after the doctor has explained what it involves, its benefits, its risks and the alternatives.
  • take a historyTo ask a patient structured questions about their current problem, past illnesses, medicines, family and lifestyle in order to understand what is wrong.
  • lay termsEveryday words that people without medical training understand, used instead of technical vocabulary when talking to patients.
  • confidentialityThe duty of doctors and other staff to keep information about patients private and to share it only when this is allowed or necessary.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Patient Communication

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This page explains English vocabulary for learners. It is not medical advice.